Post-surgery care eyed at hospital

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

Memorial Hospital of Carbon County’s contract has been renewed for another three-year evaluation by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

Called the 9th Scope of Work, the period should focus on reducing complications after surgery. It is part of a two-decade-old effort to ensure taxpayers and beneficiaries receive quality care through Medicare and Medicaid.

The hospital was chosen because, statistically speaking, it shows room for improvement, according to Mike Sierberg, public information officer for the Denver office of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Hospitals were selected based on the likelihood of antibiotics being started and discontinued within an allotted amount of time. Low scores on these often mean low scores on other measures, he said.

“This doesn’t mean that Memorial Hospital is doing poorly,” Sierberg said. “It’s possible that they scored low on these measures for Wyoming, but fit into a higher percentile nationwide. We still have to pick some from each state.”

The Rawlins hospital was selected along with Ivinson Memorial Hospital, Evanston Regional Hospital and Powell Valley Hospital.

Hospital Quality Director Tracy Peterson said she doesn’t know why the facility was chosen, since, according to her data, it measures up to other area hospitals. However, she said, the hospital is participating because the project can help it improve.

Based on feedback from care providers, including nurses, surgeons and a nurse anesthesiologist, the administration should be able to prioritize the 16 areas of improvement identified by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

Mountain Pacific Quality Health, a quality-improvement organization contracted with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, is assisting the project. With an office in Cheyenne, the consulting organization should be able to provide advice for improvement.

Since Mountain Pacific is responsible for hospitals throughout Wyoming as well as Hawaii, Alaska and Montana, Peterson sees it as a good source of information.

“We can share information,” she said. “They can make suggestions of what works. Another hospital may have come up with a really good idea and we can adopt it.”